Twelve-year-old Jazlyn Guerra, aka Jazzy, is a hustler on the non-stop grind. You might remember seeing her interview with Jay-Z last November on the streets of her native New York, where her youthful exuberance coaxed some words of wisdom from Hov about what it takes to be successful. Well, she’s at it again as the latest guest on her Jazzy’s World TV YouTube channel is J. Cole.
Jazzy met up with Cole backstage at last weekend’s Governor’s Ball Festival and wasted no words in cutting straight to the chase with Cole. Bubbly, but beyond composed, Jazzy’s first question to the rapper was about persistence. “Why is persistence so important… no matter how many ‘no’s’ you get?” Cole got philosophical with his response:
“Let’s say you want something really bad and you keep trying and you keep trying and you keep trying. And on the 10th try you don’t get it still? And then you say, ‘Uhh… OK, it must be a sign that I need to stop doing what I need to do.’ But what if you didn’t know that on your 11th try you would’ve made it happen and got what you wanted to get? If you really truly love something and you truly believe, you should just do it for the love, and even if you don’t get to where you were trying to go, you’re still doing it for the love.”
“Heck, it might even take like a 1,000 years until you get it, right!?” the spritely Jazzy replied before asking an even harder-hitting question: “You Left North Carolina… How can leaving your hometown or your comfort zone help you mentally?” Cole was floored for a second by this one. “Hoo… that’s a deep question!,” he said, before being incredibly honest once again:
“It’s the fastest way for growth. It’s hard to grow when you’re comfortable. You’re not stretching yourself or your limits. When I left a small city in North Carolina for New York, I was for sure uncomfortable — and just like you interviewing Jay-Z — I felt some nerves. But more importantly, I felt focused and ready for the task.”
“I think that’s really important especially for kids, and everyone else, too,” Jazzy replies. “Because if you step out of your comfort zone, you might learn new skills and gain new hobbies because you stepped out of your comfort zone.”
“How old are you?” Cole asks, clearly impressed by the young journalist. “12 years old,” Jazzy says, before Cole responds, “Yeah! For sure, you got it. You already understand life, so you got it.”
Props to Jazzy for literally embodying the two traits she asked Cole about. Something tells us she’s got some more tricks up her sleeve and she looked ready for the next interview as she signed off, “Until next time, Jazzin out!”
Watch Jazzy’s World TV’s interview with Cole above.